Usurping the Mongols: My Father-in-Law is Genghis Khan

"What else can we do?"

Wanyan Yongji glared fiercely at this loyal old minister and said, "When the agreement with the Mongols was reached, Pusan Duan was still the Right Chancellor of our Great Jin, representing the Great Jin Dynasty. Could it be that our Great Jin can be untrustworthy?"

Liang Tang said anxiously, "But, the agreement signed by Pusan Duan is too humiliating and detrimental to our country. I'm afraid it will be too damaging to the reputation of our Great Jin and Your Majesty's good name!"

Wanyan Yongji became even more disgusted with him, saying, "朕's mind is made up. The peace agreement with the Mongols must be completed. Liang Tang, aren't you responsible for the security of the Central Capital? Then you will be responsible for raising the required daughters, sons, gold, and silk to meet the demands of the Mongols."

"Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Your Majesty, please think again!"

Liang Tang knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, crimson bloodstains appeared on his forehead as he desperately pleaded.

"Liang Tang!"

Suddenly, Tu Dan Yi let out an angry shout, saying, "Before the Mongols invaded Great Jin, I submitted a memorial to the court, saying that the five-hundred-mile defense line of Yehuling was dividing our forces everywhere, making it impossible to defend anywhere. It would be better to gather the troops in the large cities to await the Mongols. As a result, what did you say?"

"I… I said that abandoning the Yehuling defense line would allow the Mongol army to advance into the Central Plains through small paths, threatening the Central Capital, which was too risky."

"Now it seems, were you wrong, or was I wrong?"

Liang Tang was ashamed and his face turned red. He stammered, "It was me… It was me who was wrong."

Tu Dan Yi continued, "My first memorial was not accepted by the court, so I immediately submitted a second memorial. I said that the three prefectures of Chang, Heng, and Fu were wealthy with civilians and brave men. The three prefecture herdsmen had nearly a million warhorses, which must not be lost. We must relocate all the people and warhorses from these three prefectures inland to prevent them from being used by the Mongols. As a result, what did you say?"

Liang Tang was even more ashamed, saying, "At that time, I said that this would be damaging our own territory and was absolutely impossible."

"Now it seems, were you wrong, or was I wrong?"

"It was… It was me who was wrong."

Tu Dan Yi continued, "Furthermore, not only did I send 20,000 troops to aid the Central Capital, but I also submitted a memorial to the court stating that not a single soldier should be transferred from the northeastern region. If 10,000 troops were left behind and I was given full authority to mobilize the troops from the northeastern prefectures, I could guarantee that Tokyo and Shangjing would not be lost. At that time, what did you say?"

Liang Tang said, "I said that leaving 5,000 or 10,000 troops in the northeast wouldn't make much of a difference. Moreover, the northeast is bitterly cold. The Mongols are greedy for the glamorous world of the Central Plains and may not necessarily attack the northeast."

"Now it seems, were you wrong? Or was I wrong?"

"I was wrong!"

The moat of the Central Capital was almost forty miles long.

Back then, when Temujin led 50,000 troops to watch over the defending army of the Central Capital, it was impossible to surround it so tightly that even a needle couldn't penetrate or water couldn't leak. He could only prevent the large-scale movement of enemy troops within the city. Therefore, for more than a year, news from the Central Capital had been flowing smoothly to the outside world until the "million-strong army surrounded the Central Capital."

Of course, Liang Tang knew that Shangjing and Tokyo had been destroyed by Jebe.

Liang Tang wasn't a bad person, let alone a treacherous villain. On the contrary, he had always been loyal to the Great Jin. It was just that his abilities were indeed not comparable to those of outstanding figures like Tu Dan Yi, so that every time he made a seemingly correct decision, it was eventually proven to be a bad idea.

By now, Liang Tang was so ashamed that his face was completely red, and his head was almost touching the ground.

Tu Dan Yi softened his tone and said, "Councilor Liang, since your three suggestions to the court were all wrong, how can you be sure that this time, blocking the peace talks is also correct?"

"I…"

"Also, how long do you think we can last?"

Liang Tang said, "The Central Capital's city defenses are solid, the soldiers are fighting bravely, and the food can last for three years!"

Tu Dan Yi snorted coldly and said, "Three years? That food can only last the 150,000 troops in the city for three years, but it can't take care of even a little of the million civilians in the city. Three months ago, some civilians' families ran out of food. Yesterday, a full thirteen families committed suicide! What? Do you want to force the entire city's civilians to resort to cannibalism?"

"I…"

Tu Dan Yi continued, "And what about the Great Mongol Empire? I don't know who guided them, but they are no longer a barbaric grassland nation that only knows how to burn, kill, and plunder. Instead, they have become a great power that uses the means of division and co-option to the extreme.

I know that you will say that the grassland people have been campaigning away from home for nearly three years, miss their wives and children at home, and have plundered countless daughters, sons, gold, and silk. They are eager to return home. I am afraid that even Temujin cannot reverse such a popular trend.

However, how confident are you that Temujin cannot grit his teeth and persevere for another three years?"

Liang Tang was rendered speechless by Tu Dan Yi and had no choice but to take off the official hat on his head, saying, "Liang is dull and has misled the country for many years. I am really not worthy to be the Councilor of State. I will resign from my post now. Moreover, I will never again comment on the major policies of the court."

Tu Dan Yi shook his head slightly and said, "Councilor Liang, you have misled the country for many years. Do you think you can just leave like this?"

"Then… then what do you say I should do?"

"Help the court do one last thing and gather the daughters and wealth that the Mongols need." Tu Dan Yi helped Liang Tang up and said kindly, "This old man knows that Councilor Liang is a loyal and honest gentleman, but he lacks talent and ability, which is why he made some mistakes.

Now, the daughters, sons, gold, and silk that the Mongols want must definitely be collected. If you do this, it will cause less harm to the Central Capital than if someone else does it, right?"

There was no way around it. In order to meet the numbers required by the Mongols, Liang Tang had to do his best to collect them, only ensuring fairness as much as possible.

First of all, regardless of wealth or status, including Wanyan Yongji, all gold, silver, copper coins, and silk fabrics in the city, as well as gold, silver, and copper utensils, women's jewelry, and precious jade stones, were all sent to the Mongols outside the city without leaving anything behind.

All livestock, whether horses, mules, donkeys, or pigs, cattle, and sheep, even the dogs in the city were all sent to the Mongol camp without leaving a single one behind.

As for Jurchen women?

Apart from the four princesses, no matter how fair Liang Tang was, he didn't have the guts to touch the women of the royal family, or the wives and daughters of important court officials and military officers. However, there were absolutely no scruples about ordinary women of the imperial clan, ordinary noble women, and even Jurchen commoner women.

The Great Jin's national treasury and Wanyan Yongji's private treasury were completely unable to escape.

If he wasn't afraid that the Mongols would turn their backs and continue to attack the city after obtaining the wealth, Liang Tang would have even wanted to sell the grain and military equipment in the city to the Mongols in order to reduce the number of Jurchen women being sent.

However, despite Liang Tang's efforts and fairness, he still incurred a lot of infamy.

During the day, when the soldiers and civilians in the Central Capital mentioned Liang Tang, they hated him so much that their teeth itched, wishing they could eat his flesh raw and sleep on his skin.

When they got home at night, they couldn't bother to scold Liang Tang anymore. Instead, they scolded Wanyan Yongji and the Great Jin Dynasty!

What was going on?

Who didn't know that Pusan Duan was Wanyan Yongji's black glove?

Now, it was just that Wanyan Yongji threw away a pair of black gloves called Pusan Duan and replaced them with another pair called Liang Tang.

Liang Tang was just doing the dirty work, and Wanyan Yongji was the real mastermind!

The former Emperor Jin Zhangzong Wanyan Jing was already very much like Emperor Huizong of Song.

Now it was good, here came another Emperor Qinzong of Song!

In the Central Capital, they directly created the Jingkang Humiliation!

After this, will we follow the same path as the Song Dynasty, losing our capital and fleeing south?

Unfortunately, the land south of the Yangtze River belongs to the Song Dynasty.

This Great Jin Dynasty is doomed!

Wanyan Yongji will be trampled to death by the Mongols sooner or later!

It's worth mentioning that the Han Chinese, Khitans, Xi, and Bohai people cursed the least.

After all, the Mongols weren't after their women, were they? Compared to the Jurchens, they felt much more at ease. Moreover, seeing the once high and mighty Jurchens become as worthless as themselves, unable to even protect their female relatives, filled their hearts with joy!

The artisans cursed the Jin Dynasty's court the least.

This was because most of the artisans in the city belonged to the 'artisan households' and were registered under the 'artisan registry.' Not only did they have to work in government-run workshops, but the government also had the final say on how much they were paid. Even then, they still had to bear 'corvée labor,' which meant working for the government completely free of charge.

As the Jin Dynasty's finances deteriorated, the treatment of these artisans declined again and again.

In the past year or so, with the Mongol army besieging Zhongdu, the artisans' treatment had fallen to an extreme low.

The Jin Dynasty's court forcibly conscripted all artisans in the city, including those from 'artisan households,' to work day and night to produce weapons, build defensive measures, and repair the city walls. Even the artisans' family members—women, the elderly, and children—were all conscripted, either to participate in logistics or to dismantle houses to obtain wood for making city defense equipment.

As for treatment?

They only received a meager ration of food barely enough to fill their stomachs, and nothing else.

Many artisans and their family members died from hunger or overwork.

Such treatment was worse than that of slaves.

Now that the Great Jin Dynasty was letting them go to the Mongols, so be it.

What difference did it make who they were slaves for?

Their treatment had already fallen as low as it could go, and who knew, they might even live better lives working for the Mongols!

Therefore, the artisans and their families happily entered the Mongol army's camp.

So many?

Even Zhao Shuo was a little dumbfounded after Liang Tang sold most of the artisans to the Mongols.

Nearly 23,000 artisans!

Two thousand and forty-seven skilled craftsmen capable of making palace objects and luxury goods.

Three thousand four hundred and fifty-six artisans specializing in manufacturing armor, swords, spears, bows, catapults, and repeating crossbows.

Seven thousand one hundred and thirty-seven artisans specializing in weaving fabrics and making clothes.

Three thousand five hundred and forty-two artisans specializing in manufacturing agricultural tools.

Two thousand six hundred and forty-one artisans specializing in manufacturing rice, vinegar, wine, lacquer, ceramics, and paper!

Three thousand six hundred and forty-two artisans specializing in printing, construction, shipbuilding, and making funerary objects.

Including their family members, the total came to 120,000 people.

However, upon closer thought, it was not surprising. Among the million soldiers and civilians in Zhongdu, could there possibly be any farmers?

Besides the high-ranking officials, nobles, and garrisoned troops, wouldn't the rest be their family members, some service personnel, and artisans? Moreover, for security reasons, the emperor would inevitably place most of the country's workshops in the capital.

Okay, let's settle the accounts then.

A total of 243 artisans were identified by Zhao Shuo as master craftsmen, each worth 1,000 taels of silver, totaling 243,000 taels of silver.

The remaining artisans were worth 2.24 million taels of silver.

Their family members were worth approximately 2 million taels of silver.

That's 4.5 million taels of silver, still short by more than 25 million taels just in silver!

The Jin Dynasty continued to send!

They sent 1.68 million taels of gold.

They sent 4.67 million taels of silver.

They sent 14.56 million strings of copper coins.

They sent a million bolts each of silk, satin, brocade, damask, and gauze, and 20,000 heads each of horses, camels, donkeys, and mules. The Jin Dynasty had gathered everything.

The other cloth and livestock could be used to offset the debt.

In addition, there were countless rare treasures within Zhongdu.

After much calculation, they were still short 860,000 taels of gold and 5.42 million taels of silver.

There was no choice but to use Jurchen women to make up the difference.

A Jurchen noblewoman was worth 500 taels of gold, and a commoner woman was worth 200 taels of silver.

A total of 1,326 Jurchen noblewomen and 25,637 Jurchen commoner women were sent into the Mongol army's camp.

This was still short nearly 200,000 taels of gold and 300,000 taels of silver.

Liang Tang was so anxious that he was about to cry.

He told Temujin that he had scoured Zhongdu clean. If they continued to send women, they would have to take the wives and daughters of military officers and important state officials, which would inevitably lead to mutiny.

Temujin was already more than satisfied with such a large sum of wealth.

He generously announced that these debts would be offset by four Jin princesses. Liang Tang left, thanking him profusely.

Of course, Temujin couldn't keep all four princesses for himself.

The person with the greatest contribution to this Mongol campaign against the Jin Dynasty was, of course, Genghis Khan Temujin.

Below Temujin were the son-in-law Zhao Shuo, Muqali, and Jochi.

It would be best to divide them this way.

Temujin had a famous saying: 'The greatest joy in life is to conquer and defeat your enemies, to pursue them, to seize their possessions, to see their loved ones weep, to ride their horses, and to take their wives and daughters.'

The Jin people didn't want to send unmarried princesses, but Temujin insisted on taking the Jin's already married princesses as concubines.

Immediately, Temujin took Wanyan Yongji's eldest daughter, Princess Zheng, into his harem.

Muqali was the oldest of the three meritorious officials, so Temujin bestowed Wanyan Yongji's second daughter, Princess Dening, upon him.

Jochi was bestowed Wanyan Yongji's third daughter, Princess Jia'an.

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Zhao Shuo was the youngest and was bestowed Wanyan Yongji's fourth daughter, Princess Qiguo.

In addition, it must be stated that, according to historical records, this Princess Qiguo married Temujin.

At that time, the Mongol forces were not large enough to break through Zhongdu, and Temujin could only take an unmarried princess.

In the end, he chose Princess Qiguo.

This Princess Qiguo was not only very beautiful but also had a gentle and understanding personality. The recluse of Ehu recorded in 'Old Fox's Records of Beauties Through the Ages': 'Princess Qiguo, daughter of the Jin Prince Wei, had an elegant appearance, a charming demeanor, and was universally acknowledged as beautiful.'

Genghis Khan was very happy to obtain this woman and specially built a huge Ordo palace for her on the grassland west of the Huan River, holding a grand banquet that lasted for seven days. From then on, the Jin Dynasty lost a 'Princess Qiguo,' and the grasslands gained a 'Princess Empress.'

Later, this 'Princess Empress' held a high position in Mongolia and once received the Daoist Qu Chuji of Changchun.

When the Mongols were about to destroy the Jin Dynasty, Princess Qiguo once persuaded the then-Mongol Khan Ögedei to consider the close ties between the two countries and allow the Jin to pay tribute and become a vassal. Although Ögedei did not listen, the fact that she could speak to Ögedei showed the princess's status.

In any case, this Princess Qiguo was now Zhao Shuo's woman.

After Zhao Shuo saw 'Princess Qiguo,' he learned that her name was Wanyan Ningjia.

She was indeed gentle and charming, with skin as white as mutton fat and cheeks with a slight blush, appearing full of vitality and lovable.

In historical records, this Princess Qiguo lived to a ripe old age. When Ariq Böke independently ascended the throne in Karakorum, she was still alive.

A long lifespan indicates good genes!

Historically, Temujin was over fifty years old when he obtained the princess, and he had too many women, so it was not surprising that he could not allow the princess to bear children.

It was not a problem for Zhao Shuo to have her bear excellent offspring for him.

It was just that the Mongols attacked the Jin three years earlier, and Princess Qiguo was still young and had not yet fully matured, so Zhao Shuo decided to raise her first.

After the princesses were divided, it was time to divide the other spoils of war.

According to the previous agreement, Temujin received 30%, and Zhao Shuo received 10%. The remaining 60% was divided among all the Mongol soldiers according to their merits, which also included Zhao Shuo's share.

Everyone's contributions were about the same in this siege of Zhongdu.

Then let's divide it based on the number of people.

The Balu camp could only receive 30% of the spoils of war as normal soldiers.

The newly surrendered soldiers were not strong in combat and certainly couldn't compare to the grassland warriors. After careful discussion, their combat effectiveness was assessed to be 60% of a regular soldier.

Overall, Zhao Shuo was allocated 31% of the total spoils of war from Zhongdu, which was a considerable amount. To put it in perspective, even Temujin only received 38%.

The lavish spoils of war were enough to make Zhao Shuo gasp. These spoils included:

520,000 taels of gold!

1,450,000 taels of silver!

4,650,000 strings of copper coins!

A total of 3,420,000 bolts of various silks and fabrics!

32,000 head of various livestock!

411 Jurchen noblewomen!

7,947 Jurchen commoner women!

768 crates of various jewels and jade!

7,000 artisans!

Of course, these spoils represented the total spoils of war, and Zhao Shuo's personal share was only 30% of the total.

The remaining 70% would be distributed to the generals and soldiers under his command.

Ordinary soldiers would receive approximately 50% of the spoils, while the nobles under Zhao Shuo would divide the other 20%.

Furthermore, Zhao Shuo's soldiers were divided into two categories: grassland warriors and the newly joined Han Chinese Eight Banner soldiers.

Due to the Han Chinese Eight Banner soldiers being new recruits, they would only receive 60% of the share allocated to the grassland warriors.

However, not a single Han Chinese Eight Banner soldier complained.

This was because the spoils were so abundant that even 60% of the grassland warriors' share was quite substantial!

Each person received four taels of gold, ten taels of silver, three bolts of fabric, and some jewelry. Overall, each person received the equivalent of one hundred taels of silver.

One hundred taels of silver!

That was enough to buy the life of a skilled craftsman like Sun Wei.

These Han Chinese soldiers, just a year ago, were ordinary peasants whose lives weren't worth even fifty taels of silver. Many of them didn't even have thirty taels of silver in their entire family's assets!

Now, they had unexpectedly struck a fortune that made them dizzy with excitement.

What's more, there were also women to be distributed.

Although there certainly weren't enough women for each person to have one, many of the 45,000 soldiers were married.

Those who wanted women could simply buy them with money!

Having just received so much reward money, why not buy women to enjoy life? What else would they save it for?

Besides, everyone was reasonable and wouldn't ask for too much. Fifty taels of silver should be enough, right?

Most importantly, Zhao Shuo specifically took out some personal female slaves to sell.

There was no other way. Zhao Shuo currently had too many female slaves.

Within Zhongdu City, Zhao Shuo was allocated 123 Jurchen noblewomen and 2,384 ordinary Jurchen women.

But weren't there also women in Hebei who had been reduced to slavery? Zhao Shuo would also receive 30% of them.

Furthermore, Shuchi's conquest of Shanxi, Jebe's conquest of the Northeast, and Muqali's conquest of Shandong would also grant him 10% of the captured female slaves, which he didn't have to distribute downwards.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo now had over nine thousand female slaves.

What use did Zhao Shuo have for so many female slaves?

He simply decided to keep one thousand of the most beautiful and youngest ones for his own use or to reward meritorious generals in the future.

The remaining eight thousand would be sold to the Han Chinese soldiers. The Mongol soldiers didn't need to be considered. After years of war, there were already more women than men on the grasslands. After repeated conquests, they had already been allocated many women, so basically everyone was married.

With the addition of these six thousand female slaves, basically all the Han Chinese soldiers would have wives.

With wives, they would have families.

If Zhao Shuo then distributed land to them, they could be considered 'respectable commoners'.

Respectable Han Chinese commoners, historically, were the strongest soldiers!

Of course, ordinary Han Chinese soldiers wouldn't think so much.

They only knew that after following the驸马(Imperial Son-in-Law) for just a year, they had money and women, transforming from a state of barely surviving in poverty to the winners in life.

Everyone's face was filled with joyous smiles, even happier than during the New Year.

Everyone was emotionally stirred and filled with gratitude towards Zhao Shuo.

"We are willing to die for the Imperial Son-in-Law!"

Someone shouted, and the 45,000 Han Chinese soldiers responded in unison, their voices like an overwhelming tsunami, reaching beyond the nine heavens.

The next day, Zhao Shuo was summoned to Temujin's golden tent to discuss the retreat and the subsequent handling of affairs with the generals.

Qulan said, "The other matters are easy to discuss, but the key is that we have seized the area north of the Huai River Fort from the Jin Dynasty. The Wild Fox Ridge defense line can be ignored; there's no need to defend the five-hundred-mile line, and we don't have that many soldiers anyway. However, the three prefectures of Fu, Chang, and Heng must be guarded. After all, that's our territory now."

Temujin's majestic gaze swept across the faces of the generals, and he said, "So, who among you is willing to guard these three prefectures?"

"..."

The generals looked at each other, speechless.

Who would be willing to guard them?

Grassland warriors were both soldiers and civilians. Not only did they provide their own weapons and equipment during battles, but they also had to pay taxes to the grassland nobles on weekdays.

Now, if they were stationed outside, unable to take care of their families or plunder, wouldn't they have to be paid military salaries?

How great would the loss be from this in and out?

As for using the taxes from the three prefectures of Fu, Chang, and Heng to compensate for the income of the grassland nobles?

Forget it. Not to mention now, even after the establishment of the Great Yuan Empire in historical records, the Mongols couldn't figure out how to collect taxes properly and had to rely on Semu people as tax farmers. The small amount of taxes collected couldn't compensate for the losses of the grassland warriors.

By the time of Kublai Khan, many grassland warriors were impoverished due to military service, first selling their wives and children, and eventually even selling themselves into slavery.

Back then, after the Mongols seized the cities of Ouluohai and Keyimen from the Western Xia, everyone was unwilling to guard the cities. In the end, the rule of rotational garrison duty was established.

These Mongol nobles understood after practical calculations that guarding the cities was too unprofitable, and they would avoid it whenever possible in the future.

Zhao Shuo knew the inside story of the Mongols, which was why he promised Zhang Rou that he would give them land suitable for farming.

In the end, Zhao Shuo coughed lightly and said, "Father Khan, let me guard these three prefectures of Fu, Chang, and Heng."

"It's still Ah Shuo who can share my worries!"

Temujin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It is settled then. The area north of the Huai River Fort and south of the Wusha Fort Great Wall will be Ah Shuo's fiefdom."

If even Zhao Shuo was unwilling to guard the three cities, Temujin would have no choice but to continue letting the generals take turns garrisoning them.

However, these three prefectures were too large. Unlike the small-scale affairs of the two small cities of Ouluohai and Keyimen, a considerable amount of troops was needed for defense. Each time it was a noble's turn to garrison these three prefectures, they would have to bear a significant economic burden.

Even with Temujin's prestige, he was unwilling to offend all the nobles.

Zhao Shuo's statement truly solved his urgent problem.

Starting the next day, the Mongols began to retreat in batches.

First, Jebe led 20,000 troops as the vanguard, and Muqali led 20,000 troops as the rearguard. In the middle was a large contingent of artisans, retreating beyond the Great Wall.

Then came the 48,000 Han Chinese troops under Zhao Shuo and their families, who were temporarily settled in the three prefectures of Fu, Chang, and Heng.

Immediately following them was the army of twenty thousand soldiers led by Shuchi.

Then came Temujin's central army.

Finally, there were Zhao Shuo's main force and the Balu camp.

The entire withdrawal process was orderly, not giving the Jin army any opportunity to exploit.

With the Mongols' withdrawal, the results of this Mongol invasion of the Jin Dynasty, as well as the 'Da'an Agreement' reached with the Jin (the reign year of the Jin Dynasty this year was Da'an), quickly spread throughout the world.

The world was shaken!